


Nicknames

by Gammija



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, revelation fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:38:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4782602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gammija/pseuds/Gammija
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(originally posted to FF.net)<br/>Paulina gets bored and decides to make nicknames for her classmates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nicknames

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! I finally have an AO3 account. So im uploading all my finished stories from FF.net and any future stories will be posted on both. This one i wrote at least 2 years ago so, y'know, its not the best

Groaning, I sit down at my desk. I should have been home by now! But nooo, I, the most popular girl in school, am doomed to detention. I will never forgive that miss What's-her-name for sending me here. It was just the fourth time I was late this month!

I sigh again. In front of the class, Mr. Lancer is grading a test. I recognize it; I had to make it yesterday. One of the hardest questions had been why the name of the main character fitted him. I ended up writing some nonsense about his parents, and how they could see in the future that the boy would grow out to be like his name suggested. You see, me, Star and Val have this rule: If you don't have a clue what the answer is, just say something idiotic.

It was pretty unfair though. Characters from movies or books usually get a name that fits them perfectly. But in the real world? Take my name, for example. 'Paulina'.

Although that name could send any boy in school drooling, I don't like it. It has 'Paul', and that's a boy's name.

Secretly I envy Star for her name. Thát should be my name. Like a star, shining high above all others. And only being able to be reached if you can fly (like Inviso-Bill!). Not that I will tell Star that, of course.

But if I would be named Star, how should Star herself be called? I think about what I know about Star. It's depressingly little. She just always follows my lead. When I started dressing different, so did she. When I got interested in Inviso-Bill, so did she. A better nickname for her would be 'Satellite'.

I snicker, and look at the clock. My smile immediately disappears. I still have forty more minutes to go! I feel the urge to bang my head against the table, but I resist it. I cannot be seen doing that.

'Okay, 'Star', find a way to entertain yourself,' I think. Hmmm. Maybe I can make nicknames for everyone else in detention!

I take a notebook and a pencil. I open it at the last page, and start making a list with names. I start by looking around. Who were in detention anyway?

I immediately spot Dash. I write his name down, although I already know how to nickname him.

I move on to the next. Kwan is sitting next to him, probably for the same reason.

Behind them is Valerie, who was late for some reason. She has been doing that lately. It was sad, really. She used to be a part of the A-list, but for some reason she no longer has the money to buy the newest clothes or go to the best parties. She claims that it was Inviso-Bill's fault but I know that he would never do such a thing. I write her name down, and after a small hesitation Bills too.

I wonder if I should do everybody, or just stick with these four. One glance at the clock gives the answer: Everybody it is.

I keep looking. My eye falls on Lancer, who's still concentrating on the tests. If I do everybody, I shall do him too. His name goes on the list.

I further spot Mikey, who's here for a reason I either don't know or can't remember. I decide to make an exception here: I know close to nothing about him. He's just too… normal. I wouldn't even know a gossip about him.

Then we have a girl with blond hair sitting on her own. I know even less about her, so she's obviously not in my class, not a cheerleader and not on my list.

And that leaves me to the three kids in the corner: Danny, Sam and Tucker. They were pretty interesting, to say the least. Rumor has it that since Danny's short absence they keep skipping classes on a daily basis. That's probably why they're here now too.

A quick check assures me that that's everyone, so I read the first name on the small list.

'Dash'. I snicker. Since two weeks ago, Dash has been known to me, Star and Kwan as 'Rainbow' Dash. Kwan caught him back then watching 'My little pony'. Turned out he was a Brony. I guess we should've seen it coming, seeing the teddy bear incident… But he's still the quarterback, and you don't want to make him angry. He threatened all three of us that he's beat us up if we'd dare to tell anyone else. That didn't stop us from teasing him whenever we could, though…

I smile again and write down 'Rainbow Dash' behind his name. 'One down, seven to go.'

Next one: Kwan. (Hey, that rhymed!) Kwan would be Dash's satellite. What goes for Star and me, goes for him and Dash. But he also has some personality of his own, or else he'd be a Goth now from what I've heard.

For some reason I can't remember anything from that week. Inviso-Bill saved me though, and that was more than worth it. I remember it like it was yesterday: His unruly white hair, shimmering silver in the sunlight, his soft green eyes, the way he flew away into the sky…

But I'm drifting off. So, the nickname for Kwan could be… maybe Moon? I mean, a moon circles a planet but it's a fairly big satellite. (I'm so proud of myself for knowing that! Who's shallow now?) So Moon it is.

I look down to see Valerie's name as the next. This might be a tad harder. Valerie has always had a very distinguished personality, so I can't call her Meteor or something like that. An idea started to form in my head.

You could say she has a fiery personality… She does have a temper, though. I think I'm going to call her 'Flame'.

I write it down. 'Valerie the Flame'. That sounds good.

Content with what I've done so far, I allow myself to look at the clock again. Still thirty minutes! I raise my leg to stomp on the floor, but my knee knocks against the bottom of the table. Looking around to make sure nobody noticed, I bite the inside of my cheek so I won't make a sound.

I groan and look back at the list. 'Inviso-Bill'! I'd almost forgotten that I wrote his name, too. I try to think of some information, but soon realize I only know two things about him: He's a hero and a ghost. Obviously, his public-given name also includes the latter, but personally I think it's a really lame name. If it wasn't his, I'd say everyone who's named 'Bill' is a loser. Good thing I don't know any Bills in person.

Back to the naming. I guess I could call him just 'Ghost', but that's so superficial. People also yell 'Ghost!' if there's an ordinary ghost attack. Maybe another word for ghost, like Spook? Neh, that sounds childish. Specter? Maybe, but for some reason it sounds more like a girl's name. Phantom, then? Hmm. I imagine him while saying the name in my head. Immediately I feel a strange sense of familiarity. I can't quite put my finger on it, but no doubt that this is going to be his nickname.

And that brings us to: Lancer. I don't know a lot about him, and frankly I don't want to. One of his most recognizable features is that he swears with book titles. It's pretty impressive how he manages to never use the same. He probably read the whole library. Aha! I write down 'Library' next to his name.

And the next names are… Oh-oh. I look at the clock, but there's still a lot of time left. I'm doubting: Spend the rest of the time being bored or thinking about three losers? I make the decision quickly and go for the latter. I can always decide to stop later, right?

Right. So, next one on the list: Tucker. He already has a nickname, Bad Luck Tuck. And Technogeek. To those two, I'd like to add Technocreep: He is really gross around girls. But that are three names! Which one should I pick?

Discretely, I look around at him. He's unsuspecting fiddling with his PDA.  _Not much to go by there,_ I think as I sigh and turn back to my own table. Sooo… Bad Luck Tuck? Technogeek? Maybe I could fuse them together. That would make… Technoluck Geek? Yuck, sounds horrible. Maybe Bad Luck Techno-Tuck? It's a whole mouthful, but is has a nice rhythm. I write it down after Tuckers name.

Maybe I should show this list to Dash one time! I bet he'd like to use some of the nicknames I- Oh right. 'Rainbow' Dash is not going to enjoy that little nickname. Well, his loss. Moving on.

The next person on the list is… Sam. Oh, how I hate that girl. I've got nothing against Goths or other creeps like that; I'll never dress that way myself, but as long as they leave me alone, I couldn't care less about them. No, my hate against her is completely justified: she called me shallow. Now just because I appreciate make-up and muscular boys does not mean I'm shallow! It even makes her shallow to suggest I'm shallow just based on my clothes. But if I would say that to her, she'd go like: 'Noooo! Don't you see how dark and deep I am! I have so many layers, I'd make even an onion jealous!' I wish I could squash her like a little bug. I'll make that her nickname, too. Angrily I write 'Bug' after 'Sam'.

And that takes us to the last person on my list: Danny. What to do for him? Well, let's list what I know about him: He's the son of two Ghost Hunters, he is not bad looking but he's Dash's favorite punching bag and he always hangs out with the two other losers I've just nicknamed. If he weren't so weak, he might've made a nice boyfriend too. But who wants to date a boy who can't even defend himself? I want a boyfriend who's like: 'I'm though.' Like Invis- Phantom! I've got to start calling him that to myself, it sounds much better.

 _But what name am I going to give Danny?,_ I think as I glance in his direction. I could of course always give him one of the nicknames Dash always shouts to his head. But after the names I've given to the other people on the list, I think that that may be a bit unfair. So what-

* * *

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. I look shocked to the side of the windows to see a gigantic green Ghost-dog standing! Five months ago, I (and everyone else with me in detention) would've start running away screaming, but since ghost attacks have become almost regular in Amity Park I don't move. Instead, we keep staring motionless into the red glowing eyes of the dog, trying to do nothing to anger it. The ghost-dog stares back, while he scans the room as if he's searching for something.

The silence is abruptly broken by a piercing scream. We all look in direction of the scream, even the dog, where we see the blond girl from before. She's making a run for the door while screaming her lungs out. For a moment, nothing happens. Then the dog leaps forward.

'Everyone, run!' Lancer yells, and that's exactly what we all do. I run to the door. Luckily, I was one of the first so I could get out immediately. Outside I decide to wait a few seconds for Valerie to come. We might not be best friends anymore, but I need someone to talk to about this and Star has long gone home. But Valerie isn't coming; only the other kids come outside, followed shortly by Lancer. When he sees me, he shouts: 'Paulina, get out of there!'

'I'm coming!'I yell back, and I'm just about to run in his direction when a black and white flash makes me turn back around to the door. 'It might be dangerous,' I hesitate, but then I remember that Phantom will be there to protect me! I slowly walk back to the door and poke my head around the corner. There I see Phantom (Yay!), but he's not fighting the dog; he's fighting with someone in a red armored suit. 'Who is that?' I whisper to myself.

She shouts at Phantom: 'I see you've conspired to destroy my home with your ghost friend again?'

Phantom shouts back indignantly: 'I didn't conspire anything! I'm just trying to save your home from being destroyed.'

In the meantime, they –well mostly the red person- continue to shoot each other and the dog, which is trying to attack Phantom as well. I want to walk away, but I have to see if Phantom survives this, and maybe I could even help him win! So I keep standing there, and watch as the Red Person fires beam after beam at the ghost boy, who dodges every single one but looks like he's almost… holding back. I've seen him fight much better than this, and I don't even see him that often!

He looks slightly panicky to the still growling ghost-dog beneath him, and then he glares determined at the Red Person. I almost feel sorry for the person in the suit. I hear Phantom whisper something under his breath, but I can't make out what he said. Then he suddenly flies directly at the Red Person and throws her with a single punch through the hole in the window. The person screams, but loses her balance and falls from her board. Phantom sighs and floats to the ground.

The dog is still jumping at him and I hold my breath… but when Phantom touches the ground, the dog jumps up to him and… licks his face?

'What are you doing here, Cujo?' Phantom asks the dog. Then he reaches around to grab one of those grey devices he always has with him. In one smooth movement, he uncaps the thing, sucks the ghost inside and puts it away again.

He looks worried at the windows. 'She'd better find Fenton instead of Phantom,' he says quietly.

What's that supposed to mean? I guess it's true, but… Hey! Did he just use my nickname for himself? Yes! I guessed his real name! But why did he say Fenton? Nothing he just said makes sense!

In meantime, Phantom still stands in the middle of the classroom, in-between the broken tables and the fallen chairs. I watch in awe as a white ring appears around his waist. What kind of power would that be? I've never seen him do that before.

The ring splits quickly splits in two, one going up, and one going down. I can't really see what's beneath them, since the light is so bright. But when the light has disappeared, I see…. What. Wait. That… Huh? How?

In the exact place where Phantom stood, is now Fenton standing. What happened? Did they switch in the short time I was blinded by the light? But that is impossible, I stood in the door and there was no one else here!

'What the hell was that, Fenton?' I yell while walking towards him, angry for making me so confused. I've got to get to the bottom of things.

He looks in my direction shocked and scared. That's right, be scared. I've got a lot of questioning for you!

'P-Paulina!' he stutters. 'How long have you been standing there?' he asks innocently, while he avoids eyecontact.

'Long enough. What was that white flash? Where is Phantom? Where did you come from?' Then I think of another, much weirder possibility. I look a bit closer at Fentons face. It's almost a complete match… and the hair… I gasp. It's just too uncanny. 'Are you Phantom?'

'N-nooo…,' he says, but it's obvious he's hiding something. I go over all the details in my head again. It would explain everything! The absences, the sleeping in class, maybe even losing his pants. I mentally compare them once again, and I'm almost absolutely certain now, even though I almost can't believe it. 'You áre Phantom….'

Then suddenly, his expression changes from confused and guilty to determination. 'Sorry,' he says, 'but I have to check something.' The last thing I know is that he literally vanishes.

* * *

Then I'm back, still standing in the same place where I was before, with Danny again standing in front of me.

'What just happened?' I ask suspicious.

He looks even more guilty and caught in the act now. He hesitates for a second, breathes in and answers: 'I had to make sure you weren't overshadowed.'

'Huh?' is my intelligent response. But then everything clicks. 'So I was right! You are Phantom!' I yell in his face.

OMG, I can't believe this is happening! I'm standing right in front of the ghost-boy, who turned out to be one of my classmates all this time.

'Ssshhht! Don't let the whole school know!' he says while looking around.

I'm still too much freaking out to really care, anyway. And to think I thought he was one of the losers… Wait. What if he hates me now? 'Please don't hate me, Danny!' I say to him.

'Hate you? Why would I hate you?'

I sigh in relief. He awkwardly laughs and starts rubbing the back of his neck. 'But euh… Please don't tell anyone I'm Phantom.'

'Why not? You could be the most popular kid of school!' I tell him. He wanted to be popular, right? Doesn't everyone want that?

He replies: 'Just… please, don't. I have my reasons.'

'Well okay, if it means that much to you I won't .'

'Phew,' he sighs. Then he relaxes a bit. I look at him one more time. He really is cute... 'But what would you say if I could have you sit at my table? I could get you there, if you want.'

He looks excited at me first and opens his mouth, but then he stops.

'What's wrong?' I ask.

'Well, I'd love to say yes, but I've seen how you treated Valerie after she lost her money. And nobody except you would like me there.' He hesitates for a second, and then finishes: 'I'd prefer to stay with my old friends.'

He stands up straighter and looks around the classroom. 'Now let's get out of here, shall we?'

Aw. I would've loved to stay a little longer with Phantom. I bite my lip, and ask: 'Could you… show me how you do it? How you become Phantom?'

He scans the room again and then answers: 'Okay, fine.' The white rings appear again, but this time I'm prepared, so I see how jeans transform into jumpsuit, and how his black hair is replaced with beautiful silver strands. I sigh again when I look into his green eyes.

'What?' he asks clueless.

'Pha- I mean Danny? Would you be my boyfriend?'

'What?!' he says shocked. 'Well, I'd love to be, but… I'm not sure. I have a bit of a crush for S-someone else.'

Disappointed, I look down. 'Well then, you're right. We probably should go.' I look up in his eyes one more time and slowly turn around, as I make sure to sway my hips just a bit more as I walk out of the room. Hey, you can't blame a girl for trying.

* * *

That evening, as I rethink the events of that day, I suddenly remember that I haven't written a nickname for Danny yet. I take the notebook out of my backpack (Lancer had brought every backpack back to the students) and open it on the page with the nicknames.

'Dash – Rainbow Dash  
Kwan – Moon  
Valerie – Flame  
Inviso-Bill – Phantom  
Lancer – Library  
Tucker – Bad luck TechnoTuck  
Sam – Bug'

I take my pencil out to add the final nickname:

Danny – Ghostboy

**Author's Note:**

> That's it, if you have any tips on using AO3 please leave them i am so confused


End file.
